Bonaparte and Chops cantered through the woods on their way to Caledonia Manor. Alice-Miranda and Millie wondered if anyone else knew about the cave. They couldn’t wait to tell Miss Hephzibah and Miss Henrietta about their discovery.

Alice-Miranda caught sight of someone digging in the pretty garden near the fountain. ‘Miss Hephzibah,’ she called.

Hepzibah Fayle wiped her brow and used her special garden kneeling frame to help her stand up. ‘Hello girls, it’s lovely to see you both.’

‘We’ve got some amazing news,’ Millie yelled.

‘Ride up to the house and I’ll meet you there in a minute,’ Hephzibah instructed. ‘I think I’ve had enough weeding for one day.’ She gathered her little digger and the kneeling frame and headed towards the house.

Alice-Miranda and Millie noticed a little black car parked under the portico. Each girl wondered who it belonged to, although with the teaching college due to open soon, there seemed to be people coming and going all the time.

The girls rode their ponies to the rear of the house, let them have a drink at the old trough near the back flowerbeds, and tied them to the balustrades on the lower lawn. Miss Hephzibah was making her way along the veranda towards the kitchen door and was almost bowled over as the children ran to greet her.

‘Hello,’ cried Alice-Miranda as she launched herself around Hephzibah’s waist.

‘Well, hello to you too.’ Hephzibah bent down and kissed the top of Alice-Miranda’s head. She took a step back and looked at the child. ‘Are you all right, dear?’

Alice-Miranda gazed up into the old woman’s blue eyes. She nodded. ‘Yes, of course. It’s just been a strange couple of days.’

‘Why don’t you come inside and tell me all about it over a nice cold glass of lemonade.’ Hephzibah turned to give Millie a hug too and together they entered the kitchen.

Henrietta Sykes was sitting at the scrubbed pine table with a book open in front of her. Her reading glasses were balanced on the tip of her nose and she almost leapt out of her seat when the screen door banged shut.

‘Oh, girls,’ she gasped. ‘I was deep in thought. Wonderful story this.’ She waved the book around. It fell with a thump back onto the table.

‘Asleep, did you say, Henny?’ her sister teased.

‘No, no, I wasn’t sleeping. Reading, that’s what I was doing.’

‘Who owns the black car at the front door?’ her sister asked.

‘Oh, it belongs to a lovely man. Mr Wiley,’ Henrietta replied.

Hephzibah looked around the kitchen. ‘Have you hidden him in a cupboard, dear?’

Alice-Miranda and Millie giggled, then pecked Henrietta on both cheeks before walking to the sink to wash their hands.

‘Of course not. He’s just gone to the toilet. He was very keen to have a look around the house and you know I can’t really manage the stairs, so I told him to take a little tour upstairs as well.’

Hephzibah nodded, and then noticed the girls’ grubby knees and elbows. ‘Where have you two been? You don’t usually get quite that dirty when you’re riding.’

‘Exploring,’ said Alice-Miranda excitedly.

‘Exploring?’ Hephzibah repeated. ‘That sounds intriguing.’

Meanwhile upstairs, Silas Wiley had given himself a grand tour of Caledonia Manor. He thought the ladies had made a very good use of the space. The bedrooms had been converted into classrooms as well as an accommodation wing. He rather fancied living there himself – it was certainly much more modern than his own home. As he made his way back to the kitchen, he could hear voices. He presumed that Mrs Sykes’s sister had returned from wherever she had been. Then he heard a child’s voice too. He stopped in the hallway outside, not wanting to interrupt.

‘We found a cave,’ said the child’s voice. Silas heard a chair being pulled out and the whump of an excited little body collapsing onto it. ‘Well, Alice-Miranda found it. At the top of the ridge in the woods.’

Silas nodded. A cave? That sounded like fun. He listened more intently, imagining what it would have been like to grow up having the run of a grand estate like this with all those lovely grounds to explore.

‘Well, I hope you didn’t go inside,’ Henrietta said seriously.

Not likely, Silas thought to himself. Any child worth their salt would definitely take a look.

‘We did and it was amazing,’ came another child’s voice. The one called Alice-Miranda? Silas heard another chair being pulled from the table.

‘And what did you find in this cave?’ Henrietta asked.

Silas pressed his ear against the door. He was expecting the big discovery to be a bat or perhaps an animal skeleton.

‘I’ll make us a fresh pot of tea,’ came another adult’s voice, ‘and get you girls that lemonade.’

‘Gold!’ one of the children exclaimed loudly.

Silas almost choked. He had to stop himself from coughing as he crept back to the bottom of the stairs. He wondered if he’d heard correctly. Gold? Really?

In the kitchen, Henrietta glanced at the door, wondering if her visitor was about to return. She could have sworn she heard a shuffling sound in the hallway.

‘Gold? Are you sure?’ Hephzibah scoffed. ‘I can’t imagine that there’s any gold in those hills.’

‘Oh yes, we saw it with our own eyes,’ said Alice-Miranda. ‘I wondered if I was seeing things too, but I’m fairly certain that it’s real.’

‘The cave looked like it was covered in fairy dust and then Alice-Miranda found a long white line in the rock. It changed colour and then it became even wider and it turned into gold,’ Millie gushed.

‘That’s a lovely story, girls. But you mustn’t tell anyone,’ said Henrietta carefully.

‘Why not?’ Millie asked. She had visions of being featured on the local news.

‘Well, you don’t know for certain that it is gold and if it is, can you imagine the trouble it might cause?’

Millie wondered what she was talking about. ‘Trouble?’

‘Do you really want people clambering all over our lovely mountains in search of gold, tearing the cave apart and making an awful mess of the place?’

Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘Oh, of course not,’ Millie frowned.

‘Gold gives men a fever, you know,’ Henrietta said seriously. ‘Makes them sick with greed.’

‘Can we at least tell our friends?’ Millie asked.

‘Do you mean Jacinta and Sloane?’ Hephzibah asked as she placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her sister. ‘Do you think that would be wise?’

Millie thought about it. Sloane’s mother was quite possibly the greediest, most conniving woman on earth and for a while it looked as if Sloane was a carbon copy. Jacinta’s mother had been married to an incredibly wealthy man who had all but left her with nothing. Perhaps Miss Hephzibah was right.

‘Don’t you think it’s a delicious secret?’ Hephzibah said. ‘Just between the two of you, like the secrets sisters have.’

Alice-Miranda looked at Hephzibah and then at Henrietta. ‘Do you have secrets?’

‘Oh yes, dear, of course we do. You can’t know someone your whole life and not have secrets,’ Hephzibah replied.

Alice-Miranda thought about it. ‘You know, Millie, you are just like my big sister and even though I’ve only known you for less than a year, by the time we’re Miss Henrietta’s and Miss Hephzibah’s age, it will feel like we’ve known each other forever, just like sisters.’

‘And if I had to have a little sister, I’d definitely choose you,’ Millie replied, looking at her friend.

‘Well, it’s settled then.’ Henrietta smiled at Hephzibah. ‘The cave and the gold will remain a special secret between sisters.’

‘Hep, dear, is there any more of that date slice?’ Henrietta asked.

Silas stayed in the hallway for another minute before striding noisily into the kitchen. ‘Lovely renovation, Mrs Sykes,’ he announced as he walked through the door.

The girls and Hephzibah turned to look at him.

‘Oh, hello, I didn’t realise there was anyone else here,’ Silas lied.

‘Hep, this is Mr Wiley,’ said Henrietta. She looked at her visitor. ‘Did you get lost up there?’

He smiled widely. ‘No, no, there’s just so much to look at.’

Alice-Miranda approached Silas. ‘Hello Mr Wiley, my name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones.’ She held out her hand and he shook it gently.

‘Good afternoon. And actually it’s Mayor Wiley.’ He played her name over in his mind. Highton, Kennington. ‘Your parents aren’t Cecelia Highton-Smith and Hugh Kennington-Jones, are they?’ he asked, realising he was possibly in the presence of retailing royalty.

‘Oh, yes.’ Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘Do you know them?’

‘I wish,’ Silas muttered and then raised his voice to say, ‘Oh yes, of course. Man in my position and all that.’

‘This is my friend, Millicent Jane McLoughlin-McTavish-McNoughton-McGill.’ Alice-Miranda ges­tured towards the flame-haired girl.

Millie looked over from where she was sitting. ‘You can just call me Millie. Are you really the mayor?’

‘Yes, that’s right,’ he replied.

‘And to what do we owe this honour, Mr Wiley?’ Hephzibah asked.

‘I was on my way to see someone and got a little bit lost, but your very kind sister has given me directions. I should be on my way or I’ll never get there,’ Silas said as he picked up his jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup of tea? And I haven’t offered anyone a bite to eat. Are you girls hungry? Would you like a sandwich?’ Hephzibah stood up and walked to the small tower of biscuit tins on the bench. She prised the lid off the top one and put half a dozen chocolate coconut slices onto a pretty plate, then located some date slice, which she added to the offering.

‘No, I must get going,’ Silas said reluctantly. His stomach gurgled. The morning tea treats looked rather delicious.

‘I’ll see you out then.’ Henrietta pushed herself up slowly from where she was sitting. She reached for her walking stick.

‘Goodbye Major Wiley.’ Alice-Miranda waved. Millie did too.

He followed Henrietta into the front hall.

‘Are you sure I can’t get you two something to eat?’ said Hephzibah vaguely. She was wondering where exactly Mr Wiley was on his way to.

‘Mrs Smith made us some lunch,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘We might ride over to Gertrude’s Grove later and have it there. But I’d love a piece of slice.’